Whitened coffee concentrate

ABSTRACT

A stable, whitened coffee concentrate that is a mixture of milk solids, soluble coffee solids, and coffee aroma, that has a solids concentration above about 25% by weight and a process for making the concentrate. The coffee aroma stabilizes the concentrate.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application is a divisional of application Ser. No.09/558,064, filed Apr. 26, 2000, now allowed. The entire contents of theprior application is hereby incorporated herein by express referencethereto.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0002] The invention relates to a stable, whitened coffee concentrateand a process for producing the concentrate. The invention also relatesto a method for stabilizing whitened coffee concentrates.

BACKGROUND

[0003] Coffee products that contain mixtures of soluble coffee solidsand milk solids are commonly found in two forms; as soluble beveragepowders or as ready-to-drink liquid beverages. Although these productsappear to be simple, numerous difficulties need to be overcome in orderto produce them. For example, the inherent instability of coffee andmilk mixtures creates a significant problem that needs to be overcome.

[0004] For soluble beverage powders, a common problem is the appearanceof flocculated milk proteins when the beverage is reconstituted withwater. The flocculated milk proteins negatively affect consumeracceptability. The problem of flocculation of the milk proteins incoffee beverages has been satisfactorily dealt with by a process inwhich the milk proteins are subjected to a processing step that controlsflocculation. After processing in this way, any flocculated milkproteins in the reconstituted beverage are too small to be visible. Thisprocess is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,620,733.

[0005] For ready-to-drink liquid beverages, in addition to the problemswith flocculation of milk proteins, it is found that lipids in thebeverage rise to the surface of the beverage in the form of globules.These globules form an agglomerated, white layer known as a cream layerand the phenomenon is known as creaming. Upon shaking of the container,the globules usually re-disperse within the beverage, however, apersistent, visible white ring usually remains on the container at theinterface between the liquid beverage and the gas above it. The presenceof this ring is unacceptable to consumers. Processing techniques andstabilizers are necessary to deal with the problem.

[0006] The stability problems become even more pronounced when whitenedcoffee products are formulated into a liquid concentrate. Typically, thecoffee component of these concentrates develops increased acidity overtime. The increased acidity negatively influences the taste of productsreconstituted from the concentrate. Furthermore, the increase in acidityleads to other problems such as curdling of the milk component,gelation, and sedimentation. Therefore, despite the advantages offeredby whitened coffee concentrates they are not commercially available,since the consuming public will not accept products that exhibit theabove-identified problems. Thus, there is a need for a stable, whitenedcoffee concentrate that avoids the above-identified problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0007] The present invention relates to a stable, whitened coffeeconcentrate; a method for stabilizing a whitened coffee concentrate; anda method for making the stable, whitened coffee concentrate. The stable,whitened coffee concentrate includes concentrated milk components,concentrated soluble coffee solids, and coffee aroma, wherein the solidsconcentration of the whitened coffee concentrate is above about 25% byweight. The ratio, on a dry basis, of non-fat milk solids to coffeesolids may be between about 1:0.1 and 1:0.7. The concentrate showssubstantially no change in viscosity after at least 5 months storage atroom temperature.

[0008] The coffee aroma may provided in the form of an aromatized coffeeconcentrate. Preferably, the aromatized coffee concentrate has a totalorganic content (TOC) of above about 300 mg/100 g of aromatized coffeeconcentrate and more preferably a TOC of above about 450 mg/100 g ofaromatized coffee concentrate. Preferably, the coffee aroma alsoincludes highly volatile aroma components.

[0009] The concentrate may include between about 50% and 60% sugar,between about 15% and 25% non fat milk solids, between about 8% and 15%soluble coffee solids, and between about 8% and 15% milk fat, thepercentages being on the basis of dry weight. Preferably, the solidsconcentration is between about 70% and 80% by weight. Preferably, theconcentrated soluble coffee solids are enzymatically hydrolyzed. Theconcentrate may also include one or more additives such as buffers,sweeteners, flavorings, colorings, emulsifiers or mixtures thereof. Theconcentrate may be packaged in a single-serve sachet.

[0010] The method of stabilizing the whitened coffee concentrateinvolves adding to a whitened coffee concentrate a sufficient amount ofcoffee aroma to stabilize the coffee concentrate and provide a stable,whitened coffee concentrate having a solids concentration above about25% by weight,. Preferably, the amount of coffee aroma is between about1 and 3 percent by weight and contains highly volatile aroma components.

[0011] The stable, whitened coffee concentrate is prepared by combiningconcentrated coffee solids with concentrated milk components to providea whitened coffee concentrate; adding to the whitened coffee concentratea sufficient amount of coffee aroma to stabilize the whitened coffeeconcentrate and provide a stable, whitened coffee concentrate having asolids content of above about 25% by weight; homogenizing the stable,whitened coffee concentrate to increase the dispersion of fat in thestable, whitened coffee concentrate; and packaging the homogenizedstable whitened coffee concentrate.

[0012] The amount of coffee aroma may be from about 1 and 3 percent byweight. Preferably, the coffee aroma contains highly volatile aromacomponents. In addition, one or more additives such as buffers,sweeteners, flavorings, colorings, emulsifiers or mixtures thereof maybe added to the stable, whitened coffee concentrate. The whitened coffeeconcentrate may be subjected to colloidal milling.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0013] The invention provides a stable, whitened coffee concentrate thatcan be stored under shelf conditions for long periods of time withoutsignificant stability and flavor-degradation problems. For example, theconcentrate may be stored for more than about 5 months, preferably morethan about 9 months, and more preferably more than about 12 monthswithout significant stability and flavor-degradation problems. Thestable, whitened coffee concentrate does not exhibit a harsh acidityafter storage and exhibits a reduced tendency to undergo gelation andsedimentation during storage. By gelation is meant an increase inviscosity of the concentrate over time. By sedimentation is meant theformation of a solid that precipitates from the concentrate and settlesto the bottom of the container in which the concentrate is packaged.

[0014] The whitened coffee concentrate comprises a mixture ofconcentrated milk components, concentrated soluble coffee solids, and astabilizing amount of a coffee aroma. The whitened coffee concentratehas a solids concentration above about 25 percent by weight, preferablybetween about 30 and 75 percent and more preferably between about 55 and72 percent.

[0015] The concentrated soluble coffee solids may be provided in theform of a soluble powder or suitable base coffee concentrate. By coffeeconcentrate is meant a concentrated extract of roast coffee. The basecoffee concentrate may be prepared, by one of two methods. In the firstmethod, soluble coffee powder is dissolved in water to provide a baseconcentrate with the desired concentration of coffee solids. In thesecond method, a coffee extract is obtained by a coffee extractionprocess and the resulting extract is concentrated to the desiredconcentration of coffee solids. The coffee extract may be obtained byextracting roasted coffee beans with a solvent. Methods for extractingroasted coffee beans and for concentrating the resulting extract arewell known to those of ordinary skill in the art. Any suitableextraction procedure or concentration procedure may be used. The choiceand design of the extraction procedure and concentration procedure is amatter of preference and has no critical impact on the invention.

[0016] Optionally, the concentrated coffee solids may be subjected toenzymatic hydrolysis; for example using a gamanase. Hydrolysis using agamanase offers the advantage of increased stability and a furtherreduction in sedimentation.

[0017] The concentrated milk components may be provided in the form of apowdered milk or a suitable milk concentrate. The milk concentrate maybe prepared by any means available to those of ordinary skill in theart. For example, the milk concentrate may be prepared by the procedurecommonly used to produced condensed milk. Alternatively, the milkconcentrate may be prepared by concentrating milk, for example, byevaporation. The solution of milk concentrate, having the selectedsolids content, may also be prepared by combining skimmed milk solids,milk fat, and sugar with water. Optionally, additional milk proteinsources such as whey or casein may be added. If a milk concentrate isused, the milk concentrate preferably has a milk solids content aboveabout 30% by weight. Preferably, the milk concentrate has a solidsconcentration of between about 50% by weight and 85% by weight. Thefinal product, i.e., the whitened coffee concentrate, preferably hasbetween about 15 percent and 25 percent of skimmed milk powder andbetween about 5 percent and 15 percent of milk fat.

[0018] Coffee aroma are the volatile components of coffee that producethe characteristic fragrance of coffee. The coffee aroma is convenientlyprovided in the form of a highly aromatized coffee concentrate. Thearomatized coffee concentrate is prepared by adding coffee aroma to acoffee concentrate. Methods of preparing coffee concentrates are wellknown to those of ordinary skill in the art. The coffee aroma is in theform of natural coffee aroma components that are collected during thepreparation of soluble coffee powder. This may be done by standardprocedures for collecting coffee aroma components or by suitablymodifying the standard procedures.

[0019] Preferably, the natural coffee aroma includes highly volatilearoma components. Highly volatile aroma components are those whichcondense at a temperature below about 0° C. To recover highly volatilearoma components, the standard procedure usually entails flushingvolatile aroma components from the coffee during processing using aninert carrier gas such as nitrogen. The aroma-laden carrier gas is thenchilled to temperatures lower than about −40° C., and sometimes as lowas about −195° C., to cause the aroma components to condense. Thecondensed aroma components are then collected. Suitable procedures forcapturing coffee aroma are disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos.3,823,241, 5,030,473, and 5,222,364, the disclosures of which areexpressly incorporated herein by reference.

[0020] Sufficient coffee aroma is added to the coffee concentrate toprovide a total organic concentration (TOC) of above about 300 mg/100 gof aromatized concentrate. Preferably, the aromatized concentrate has aTOC above about 350 mg/100 g, and more preferably above about 450 mg/100g of aromatized concentrate. The aromatized coffee concentratepreferably has a solids concentration of between about 35 and 75 percentby weight, more preferably between about 35 and 45 percent by weight.Preferably, the coffee aroma is added in an amount of between about 1and 3 percent by weight of the whitened coffee concentrate.

[0021] Unexpectedly, the coffee aroma stabilizes the whitened coffeeconcentrate. It is surprising that coffee aroma stabilizes the whitenedcoffee concentrate since coffee aroma is ordinarily more unstable thaneither milk concentrate or coffee concentrate.

[0022] The stable, whitened coffee concentrate may be produced from theconcentrated milk components, concentrated coffee components, and coffeearoma in several ways. The ingredients may be combined in any order. Forexample, the concentrated coffee components and the coffee aroma may becombined to form a mixture and the concentrated milk components thenadded to the mixture as a powder. Alternatively, the mixture may beadded to the concentrated milk components in the form of a milkconcentrate. As a further alternative, the concentrated milk components,concentrated coffee components, and coffee aroma are combined togetherin one step. Suitable mixers may be used to combine the ingredients.

[0023] The ratio, on a dry basis, of milk solids to coffee solids in thewhitened coffee concentrate of the invention is typically less thanabout 1:0.7, preferably between about 1:0.2 and 1:0.6.

[0024] Additional ingredients may also be incorporated into the whitenedcoffee concentrate as desired. Examples of additional ingredientsinclude, but are not limited to, buffers such as sodium and potassiumbicarbonate, di-sodium and di-potassium phosphate, sodium and potassiumcitrates, and various combinations of these buffers; suitable sweetenerssuch as maltodextrin, saccharin, cyclamates, acetosulfame, sucralose,L-aspartyl based sweeteners such as aspartame, and mixtures of thesesweeteners; suitable flavors such as vanilla, bourbon, whisky,chocolate, and the like; artificial or natural colorings; suitableemulsifiers such as mono- and di-esters of glycerol and a fatty acid,glycerol monostearates, sorbitol monostearates, esters or carbocyclicacids with mono-and di-glycerides, monosodium phosphate derivatives ofmono- and di-glycerides, lecithin, diacetyl tartaric acid esters ofmono-diglycerides (data esters), sorbitan esters, diacetyl tartaricacids esters of mono- and di-glycerides, succinylated mono- anddiglycerides, acetylated mono- and di-glycerides, hydroxylated lecithin,propylene glycol mono- and di-esters of fatty acids, polyglycerol estersof fatty acids, lactylic esters of fatty acids, and mixtures of theseemulsifiers.

[0025] The solids content of the whitened coffee concentrate is morethan about 25%. In one embodiment the whitened coffee concentrate has asolids concentration between about 65% and 85% by weight, preferablybetween about 70% and 80% by weight. For example, the whitened coffeeconcentrate may have a solids concentration of between about 70% and 75%by weight. In another embodiment, the whitened coffee concentrate has asolids concentration of about 30% to about 35% by weight. If thewhitened coffee concentrate does not have the desired solidsconcentration, the desired concentration may be obtained by combiningthe whitened coffee concentrate with another concentrate having a higheror lower solids content, as required, to standardize the solidsconcentration of the whitened coffee concentrate to the desired value.

[0026] The water activity, a_(w), of the whitened coffee concentrate maybe between about 0.80 and 0.95. The pH of the whitened coffeeconcentrate may be between about 5 and 8, preferably between about 6 and7, and most preferably about 6.5.

[0027] After the ingredients are combined the whitened coffeeconcentrate may optionally be subjected to colloidal milling. Colloidmilling reduces viscosity and sedimentation in the final product.Ordinarily, colloidal milling is not necessary for whitened coffeeconcentrates having a solids concentration of less than about 50% byweight. Preferably the colloidal milling occurs at elevatedtemperatures, for example from between about 100° C. and 150° C. Thetime for which the whitened coffee concentrate is subjected to colloidalmilling may be selected as desired, preferably the concentrate issubjected to colloidal milling for a period of time between about 1minute and 20 minutes.

[0028] If the whitened coffee concentrate is to be aseptically filledinto containers, it is preferably heat treated at this stage of theprocess to sterilize the product. For example, the whitened coffeeconcentrate may be subjected to ultra high temperature (UHT) treatmentat a temperature above about 115° C. Preferably the temperature isbetween about 120° C. and 150° C., more preferably between about 120° C.and 155° C. Typically, the mixture is held at the raised temperature forless than about 5 minutes, preferably for between about 1 and 5 minutes.Preferably, the mixture is held at the raised temperature for sufficienttime to provide a F₀ value of at least about 4.

[0029] Whether heat treated or not, the whitened coffee concentrate maythen be subjected to homogenization to increase the dispersion of fat inthe whitened coffee and provide a more uniform product. Homogenizationis preferably carried out in two stages. For example, for whitenedcoffee concentrates that have been subjected to colloidal milling,homogenization may be carried out in a first stage at a pressure ofbetween about 5 Mpa and 25 MPa followed by a second stage at a pressureof between about 1 MPa and 5 MPa. For whitened coffee concentrates whichhave not been subjected to colloidal milling, homogenization may becarried out in a first stage at a pressure of between about 15 Mpa and30 MPa followed by a second stage at a pressure of between about 3 MPaand 10 Mpa. All processing steps are performed under conditions whereinloss of the coffee aroma from the whitened coffee concentrate isminimized.

[0030] The whitened coffee concentrate is then filled into suitablecontainers, with or without thermal treatment prior to filling. In oneembodiment, the whitened coffee concentrate is heated to a temperatureof between about 80° C. and 100° C. for a period of less than about 1minute and then hot filled into suitable containers. In anotherembodiment, the whitened coffee concentrate is aseptically filled intosuitable containers. In another embodiment, the whitened coffeeconcentrate is filled into suitable containers and then retorted. In yetanother embodiment, the whitened coffee concentrate is frozen and thenfilled into a suitable container.

[0031] Containers suitable for containing the whitened coffeeconcentrate of the invention can be flexible, semi-rigid or rigiddepending upon the process conditions and the type of product desired.Suitable containers include, but are not limited to, stick packs;sachets; carton-based; tetrahedron packs (closeable or not); unifillpacks; squeezeable plastic bottles; stand up pouches; plastic cups; andthe like. The containers should be such that they provide a barrier tominimize exposure of the whitened coffee concentrate to water vapor,oxygen, and light transmission.. A sufficiently high barrier can beobtained, for example, with a container made of a film that containspolyester/aluminum/polyethylene layers.

[0032] In one embodiment the whitened coffee concentrate is packaged insingle serving containers. For single serving containers, the containeris suitably a sachet or stick pack. By stick pack is meant a long,narrow sachet. Equipment and material for producing these containers arecommercially available. Vertical form fill and seal machines may beused. Conveniently, the sachet or stick pack has a tear off sectionwhich may be provided in the usual manner by a notch, fancy cut, orlaser cut. Presenting the whitened coffee concentrate in this formoffers the advantage that the whitened coffee concentrate may beprovided in a convenient, single serving pack. The consumer then needonly open the pack, pour or squeeze the concentrate into a cup, and addwater. Typically, the stick pack contains between about 20 g and 50 g ofthe concentrate.

[0033] Beverages produced from the whitened coffee concentrate have agood aroma and flavor profile without harsh acidity. In addition, thewhitened coffee concentrate of the invention has good stability and maybe stored for extended periods at room temperature.

EXAMPLES

[0034] The invention is further defined by reference to the followingexamples describing in detail the preparation of the stable, whitenedcoffee concentrate of the invention. The examples are representative,and they should not be construed to limit the scope of the invention inany way.

Example 1

[0035] A coffee aroma is collected from freshly ground coffee andcryogenically condensed as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,222,364. Inaddition, an aqueous aroma distillate was obtained by steam stripping acoffee extract in a conventional manner. The condensed aroma and theaqueous aroma distillate were then mixed into a coffee concentrate thathad a coffee solids concentration of about 50% by weight. The resultingaromatized coffee concentrate has a solids concentration of about 39% byweight and a TOC of about 382 mg/100 g of coffee concentrate.

[0036] A base coffee concentrate was prepared by dissolving solublecoffee solids in water. The base coffee concentrate had a solidsconcentration of between about 25% and 30% by weight. The base coffeeconcentrate and the aromatized coffee concentrate were then combined ina mixer in a weight ratio of 5:1. The resulting coffee concentrate had asolids concentration of between about 25% and 30% by weight.

[0037] A milk concentrate containing about 22% by dry weight of skimmedmilk solids, about 12% by dry weight of butter fat, and about 66% by dryweight of sugar was then added to the coffee concentrate in a mixer toprovide a whitened coffee concentrate. The ratio of non-fat milk solidsto coffee solids in the whitened coffee concentrate was about 1:0.58. Asmall amount of disodium phosphate, about 0.4% by dry weight, wasincluded in the whitened coffee concentrate. The whitened coffeeconcentrate was standardized to a solids content of about 72% by weight,a water activity of about 0.83, and a pH of about 6.5.

[0038] The whitened coffee concentrate was then subjected to colloidalmilling. The milled concentrate was then homogenized in two stages.Homogenization was carried out in the first stage at a pressure of about10 MPa followed by a second stage at a pressure of about 3 MPa. Thehomogenized concentrate was then heated to about 93° C. for about 45seconds by direct injection of steam. The hot concentrate was thenfilled into stick packs. Each stick pack containing about 20 g ofwhitened coffee concentrate. A vertical form fill and seal machine wasused to fill the stick packs. The stick packs were made from apolyester/aluminum/polyethylene film. The stick packs had a tear offsection provided by a laser cut.

[0039] The stick pack were opened and the contents squeezed into a cup.About 150 ml of hot water was added and the mixture stirred.Reconstitution was instantaneous. A whitened coffee beverage wasobtained. No milk flocculation was noticed and no lumps or otherundissolved material could be detected. The beverage was tasted andfound to have a smooth coffee taste; no noticeable harshness or andacidity; and a well defined, rich coffee aroma. The beverage had anexcellent mouthfeel with no sandiness or dust-like texture.

Example 2

[0040] The process of example 1 was repeated except that no coffee aromawas incorporated into the whitened coffee concentrate. The stick packswith no coffee aroma were labeled as group A. The stick packs of example1 were labeled as group 1. All stick packs were stored at 20° C. Asample from each group was opened after 1 month and each monththereafter for a total storage time of 5 months. The viscosity and thesedimentation of each concentrate was determined. The results areprovided in the Table I: TABLE I Group Time (months) Viscosity (mPa/s)Sedimentation (mm) A 1 2800 0.4 2 3100 1.9 3 4800 2.9 4 5700 3.9 5 ND7.0 1 1 2.000 0.4 2 1600 0.4 3 1800 1.9 4 2000 1.9 5 2000 1.9

[0041] The results indicate that the whitened coffee concentrate whichcontained the coffee aroma has superior stability. The viscosity of thewhitened coffee concentrate remained substantially constant indicatingthat the samples did not undergo gelation. Furthermore, sedimentationwas much less in the whitened coffee concentrate which contained thecoffee aroma.

Example 3

[0042] The process of example 1 was repeated except that base coffeeconcentrate was subjected to enzymatic hydrolysis using 1.5 L gamanaseprior to the addition of the coffee aroma. Stick packs containing thewhitened coffee concentrate were stored for a period of up to 9 months.After 1-3 months, stability problems such as creaming, coagulation,sedimentation, and gelation begin to reach unacceptable levels in thesamples of the whitened coffee concentrate that contained coffee solidsthat had not been hydrolyzed with gamanase or did not contain coffeearoma. In contrast, the whitened coffee concentrate that containedcoffee solids that had been hydrolyzed with gamanase did not showstability problems until after about 9 months.

[0043] The invention described and claimed herein is not to be limitedin scope by the specific embodiments herein disclosed, since theseembodiments are intended as illustrations of several aspects of theinvention. Any equivalent embodiments are intended to be within thescope of this invention. Indeed, various modifications of the inventionin addition to those shown and described herein will become apparent tothose skilled in the art from the foregoing description. Suchmodifications are also intended to fall within the scope of the appendedclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for stabilizing a whitened coffeeconcentrate comprising adding to a whitened coffee concentrate asufficient amount of coffee aroma to stabilize the coffee concentrateand provide a stable whitened coffee concentrate having a solidsconcentration above about 25% by weight.
 2. The method of claim 1,wherein the amount of coffee aroma is from about 1 to 3 percent byweight of whitened coffee concentrate.
 3. The method of claim 1, whereinthe coffee aroma contains highly volatile aroma components.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the coffee aroma is provided in the form ofan aromatized coffee concentrate.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein thearomatized coffee concentrate has a total organic content (TOC) of aboveabout 300 mg/100 g of aromatized coffee concentrate.
 6. The method ofclaim 4 wherein the aromatized coffee concentrate has a total organiccontent (TOC) of above about 450 mg/100 g of aromatized coffeeconcentrate.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising subjecting thewhitened coffee concentrate to colloidal milling.
 8. The method of claim1 wherein the ratio of non-fat milk solids of the concentrated milkcomponent to the coffee solids is from about 1:0.1 to 1:0.7.
 9. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising enzymatically hydrolyzing thesolids.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the concentrate comprisesfrom about 50% and 60% sugar, from about 15% and 25% non fat milksolids, from about 8% and 15% soluble coffee solids, and from about 8%and 15% milk fat, the percentages being on the basis of dry weight. 11.A process for preparing a stable whitened coffee concentrate, the methodcomprising: combining concentrated coffee solids with concentrated milkcomponents to provide a whitened coffee concentrate; adding to thewhitened coffee concentrate a sufficient amount of coffee aroma tostabilize the whitened coffee concentrate and provide a stable whitenedcoffee concentrate having a solids content of above about 25% by weight;homogenizing the stable whitened coffee concentrate to increase thedispersion of fat in the stable whitened coffee concentrate; andpackaging the homogenized stable whitened coffee concentrate.
 12. Themethod of claim 11, wherein the amount of coffee aroma is from about 1to 3 percent by weight of whitened coffee concentrate.
 13. The method ofclaim 11, wherein the coffee aroma contains highly volatile aromacomponents.
 14. The method of claim 11, wherein the coffee aroma isprovided in the form of an aromatized coffee concentrate.
 15. The methodof claim 14, wherein the aromatized coffee concentrate has a totalorganic content (TOC) of above about 300 mg/100 g of aromatized coffeeconcentrate.
 16. The method of claim 14 wherein the aromatized coffeeconcentrate has a total organic content (TOC) of above about 450 mg/100g of aromatized coffee concentrate.
 17. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising enzymatically hydrolyzing the solids.
 18. The method of claim11, further comprising adding one or more additives selected from thegroup consisting of buffers, sweeteners, flavorings, colorings,emulsifiers, and mixtures thereof.
 19. The method of claim 11, whereinthe ratio of non-fat milk solids of the concentrated milk component tothe coffee solids is from about 1:0.1 to 1:0.7.
 20. The method of claim11, further comprising subjecting the whitened coffee concentrate tocolloidal milling.